Matthew Marks

Here’s what we expect to hear about next week: The ICA opens its new round of always-strong programming; Charles Ray debuts ginormous sculpture; prominent Russian artists/political activists get a double-whammy; and BAM debuts a look back at famed horror film director John Carpenter’s musical career. Other important events surrounding #BlackLivesMatter and female activism will probably play second fiddle, but maybe we can change that.

“It’s really a gay program, is what it is.” Art advisor Thea Westrich gives some surprising descriptions of galleries she likes at ABMB, like Matthew Marks. [T Magazine]

A good samaritan has offered the Detroit Institute of Arts $5 million to protect the museum’s collection. This is nothing to help cover the city’s $18 billion in municipal debt. [AP]

Christie’s just released the monetary evaluation of DIA’s collection; its “fair-market value” falls between $452 million and $866 million. $450 million is the amount of aid the U.S. sent to Egypt in 2012, the settlement amount of Mel Gibson’s divorce, and the upfront cost of getting a gold mine up and running. [Detroit Free Press]

Here’s a Christmas tiding to warm the heart: unemployment is down to 7 percent !!!!!!!!!!!!!! If that’s an accurate number, then it means we’re on our way to economic stability. Felix Salmon gives a tentative thumbs up. [Reuters]

Expensive paintings don’t make for better paintings; but it is good to know that collectors can sometimes feel okay about buying work by female artists. A large painting by the late Joan Mitchell reached a hammer price of 3.1 million Euro at the Sotheby’s Contemporary Sale in Paris. [Baer Faxt]

It is not okay for a female CEO to call her underlings employees “Penis.” Not even “Mr. Penis,” mind you—just “Penis” for a first name. How rude. [Daily News]

Our Color Wheel series is relevant as ever. Pantone has announced its “color of the year.” It’s purple. [Paris Review]

Noah Gallagher from Oasis sounds like an idiot and an asshole. In an interview with Rolling Stone he whines about prettymuch everything and slams Arcade Fire for coming out with a double album he’s never heard. “Who has the fucking time, in 2013, to sit through 45 minutes of a single album? How arrogant are these people to think that you’ve got an hour and a half to listen to a fucking record?” What’s the point of anything? Why bother making music, or art, or literature? [Rolling Stone]

Vince Aletti has been allotted more firsts (and almost firsts) in his life than the average person. He was the first person to write about disco. He was one of the first writers to exclusively focus on photography shows in New York. He is the only person to have penned, “This is Not a Fashion Photo” a regular column in W Magazine, where he choses pictures that look like they were made for a fashion publication but weren’t. It’s all part of his interest in niche culture, photography and fashion. I sat down with Aletti to talk about how he’s spent the last forty years studying, curating and reporting on culture.

“I probably use more paint than anyone in the history of art,” says Artist Holton Rower proudly. “50 gallons!” he tells us, multiple times. He then explains that with the paint used to produce one of his works, you could paint a house inside and out 10 times. Did Rower mention how much paint it takes to make his work? [Tips]

Ed Winkleman and Elizabeth Dee will be speaking in Art Basel on the role of mid-level galleries. Here’s a preview of their talk, in interview form. [Winkleman Blog]

Art dealer Matthew Marks and curator Jack Bankowsky’s West Village townhouse is up for sale. For $17.5 million, you, too, can own ceilings made for large-scale art, seven fireplaces, powder room, and basement gym. [Curbed New York]

Frieze has been killing it on the Biennale coverage. Dan Fox has a few afterthoughts on the Venice Biennale. I particularly like his rebuttal to this year’s biennale critics. [Frieze]

We could have predicted this one, but the Pratt art store is finally closing. The art school’s film and video department will move into the building. [DNAinfo]

“Art in Transmission”, an article about how looking at art on a phone affects how we perceive and value it, has sparked a bit of conversation on Twitter this morning. The article indulges in some unfortunate generalizations—art is no longer discovered in biennials and fairs and magazines, but on the phone—being high up there for me, but it’s worth a look regardless. Set a bit of time aside for this—it’s written in academic-ese. [Artforum via:Andrew Russeth, Tyler Green, Kriston Capps]

In another installment of We Went to Chelsea, we tell you why we’re not crazy about most of what’s up below 23rd Street. Next month, we’ll go higher. Our comments within on Gilbert and George, Tauba Auerbach, Brice Marden, Alice Neel, Philippe Decrauzat, Richteriana, and so much more.

Last summer, while visiting my parents in New Jersey, my mom gave me a copy of Kafka's The Penal Colony: Stories and Short Pieces. It's a slim tome sporting Kafka's greatest hits, full of strange manners and clean cruelties. It reads something like a mutant antique: musty but weirdly fresh, arcane and possibly very dangerous.